The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

Brandon was still caught up in the hustle, busying himself before grinding to a halt again.

He was hit with the memory of Daniel packing his bags, not dressed in his usual chill-at-hgear, but rather like he was about to

hit the road when the night was still young.

Although Daniel had got the travel bug, taking off for a road trip at night didn't exactly scream “normal”.

Brandon couldn't help but furrow his brow, calling Nell, the guy who had specially got Daniel's back. The call connected in no time.

"Is my dad hitting the hay yet?" Brandon asked.

Nell on the other end probably didn't see this call coming, stammering a bit.

"Chairman Crawley stepped out," he said.

"Where to?" Brandon probed.

"Just said he'd take a stroll around the nearby cities," Nell replied.

Brandon pushed, "Which city?"

"The Chairman didn't spill," Nell's voice faded a bit.

Brandon's tone dropped a notch, "Nell!"

With that drop in warmth ca wave of pressure, and Nell caved, stuttering out, "Headed to Zion City."

"What?"

Brandon sprang to his feet, "What's he up to in Zion City?" Brandon's voice had now completely chilled.

"Didn't catch all the details, just something about a construction site.” Nell didn’t dear to lie. Being just a caregiver, he didn’t know

a thing about all the business jargon, nor could he recall, "I couldn't remember clearly; it's about the site. He mentioned how

you're young and skeptical about all this auspicious stuff, how many have fallen because they didn't believe. He's going to keep an

eye out, make sure you and the company don't hit a snag."

Daniel had bent Nell's ear about it plenty, didn't understand the techy stuff, but he knew auspicious things all right.

Daniel's gist was that Brandon, riding high on youth, didn't buy into auspicious stuff, didn't want to start work at the right time.

Worried about potential bad omens, he insisted on overseeing the crew kick off the work according to plan, not missing the crucial

timing.

"Got it."

Brandon signed off, hung up, and tried calling Daniel.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off." the courteous customer service voice echoed from the other end.

Brandon cut it short, tried Daniel's driver, Jason. Sstory, phone off. Clearly, Daniel's playing keep away to stop Brandon from

swooping in last minute, so he'd cut off all lines of communication in advance.

With a grim face, Brandon hung up, stepped out of the study, and knocked on the door where Grace and Theresa were catching

Z's.

Grace got up to answer. Speaking in hushed tones, Brandon filled her in, "Got a bit of a situation at the company, gotta jet to Zion

City now. Keep Theresa safe for me, ringif anything pops up, and if you can't get me, buzz her godmother upstairs."

Grace was a tad spooked by his sternness, and nodded automatically, "Sure thing."

Brandon's gaze slipped past her shoulder; he peeked at Theresa snoozing inside.

Theresa, maybe catching wind of the commotion or just sensing something, suddenly snapped her eyes open, and flipped upright

at lightning speed, fumbling for her clothes while mumbling at Brandon, "I'm coming too."

Brandon was to handle surgent work stuff, middle of the night at the construction site, and Theresa was just a little tyke; he

couldn't drag her along.

"Daddy's gotta take care of work, Theresa. You hang tight with your auntie and godmother here, get sgood sleep, and we'll

cget you bright and early," he soothed her, scooping her up for a hug.

But Theresa bust out sobbing, panic-stricken, clambering up, tiny fingers clenching Brandon's sleeve with a vice grip, shaking her

head like her life depended on it, "No, | don't want that. | wanna go find my mommy."

Brandon was taken aback by her sudden meltdown. Just then, his phone, which he had just put away after the last call, started

buzzing urgently.

A quick glance told him it was Kent on the line. Brandon couldn't help but let go of one of Theresa's hands to answer.

Theresa, thinking he was about to leave her behind, wails louder, scrambling to cling to Brandon's arm like it was a lifeline.

Brandon had to steady her with one hand as he hit the answer button.

"Mr. Crawley, Sophia just rang me. Got word that the site's kicking off tonight as scheduled previously, and Jerry's team's running

the show," Kent's urgent voice blasted through as soon as the call connected.

He'd been trying to reach Brandon for over ten minutes; phone busy or tied up, Kent'd already on pins and needles.

"I got it." Brandon steadies himself, "Where's Sophia?"

Kent replied, "She's headed to the site to scope things out, see if she can head this off at the pass. She's not comfortable with Jerry

taking the reins."

"How could you let her go solo?" Brandon's voice spiked, forgetting the still crying Theresa; he's up on his feet, "Get on the horn

with the rest of the crew there, your trusted ones, have them intercept Sophia, keep her clear of the site."

Kent, a bit startled by Brandon's reaction, nodded subconsciously, "Alright."

Brandon hung up, and called Sophia.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable," the customer service voice chimed in, tightening Brandon's brow.

Not wasting a second, he pocketed his phone, turned to Theresa still gasping between sobs, bent down, and said with serious

intent.

"Theresa, daddy's gotta go find mommy first. We'll sort things out at work and be back for you in no time. You stay here with your

auntie."

"No."

Theresa's head shook wildly, her tiny hands frantically clutching Brandon's arm, trying to pull herself up onto him, crying and

pleading in a panic, "I want my mommy, | need my mommy."

Maybe it was the stillness of the night or something else, but her cries threw Brandon's heart into chaos.